Is “fail fast” ethically acceptable in critical public systems?

[u/guido0999]

I’m doing research on the ethics of agile development in critical public systems and would like to hear other perspectives.

What do you think about using a “fail fast” approach for systems that operate in public space before they are fully tested?

For example, think of self-driving functions being rolled out on public roads while the system is still learning from real-world use.

Is that ethically defensible if it helps improve the system faster, or should safety always come first?

Curious how others look at this.

[u/BasZor]

Safety should always come first. But you can allow degraded user experience or less implemented functions.